‘WHAT GREATNESS LOOKS LIKE’ Boone raves as Judge goes deep twice against Birds
BALTIMORE — With his first two-homer day of the season — and the 28th of his career — Aaron Judge now leads the Yankees with four home runs.
His first longball in the Yanks’ 5-3 rubber-game victory Sunday, a solo shot, took right-hander Tyler Wells to straightaway center field in the third inning. Judge seems to enjoy at-bats against the Orioles starter. Two of his record-breaking 62 home runs in 2022 came against Wells on July 22 last year.
But it was Orioles reliever Logan Gillaspie who surrendered Judge’s second blast, a liner to left field in the eighth.
“The best player going right now,” Aaron Boone said of Judge. “And hungry and focused and doesn’t take anything for granted. That’s what greatness looks like.”
When asked how Judge looks now, compared to this time last year, the manager noted that it took the slugger a bit to homer before settling on the word “better.” Judge didn’t go deep until the sixth game of the year last season.
“He might break that 62,” added a laughing Nestor Cortes. “Who knows?”
Judge took a more reserved approach to his early-season performance.
“If I was batting a thousand right now, I would have all of the answers for you guys,” Judge said, when asked what would constitute satisfaction at the plate. “I’m not. There’s still room for improvement. I’m still trying to make adjustments and I’m still trying to figure out pitchers and how they’re going to change this year, 5 3 especially after things you did the previous season. That’s the fun part and what I enjoy.”
In addition to pacing the Yankees in homers, Judge is now tied for the team lead in RBI with seven.
He shares that space with Franchy Cordero, who showed the Orioles that he can hit the ball hard during spring training. He spent the weekend reminding them of his capabilities — while wearing the Yankees’ road grays.
Cordero raked for Baltimore during exhibition play, slashing .413/.426/.674 with four doubles, one triple, two home runs and nine RBI. But the corner outfielder — Cordero can also play first — didn’t make the team and was released on March 27 after opting out of his deal.
The Yankees signed Cordero three days later and swiftly added him to their Opening Day roster.
It didn’t take long for Cordero to exact revenge on the team that passed on him. After hitting his first home run of the year at
Camden Yards on Friday, Cordero mashed a Wells pitch over the right-field scoreboard on Sunday for a two-run bomb in the fifth inning.
“I see it like that’s my job,” Cordero said. “Regardless what team you’re facing, you’re gonna be happy that you’re contributing, and that’s really what I’m glad about, that I’m helping our team.”
Cordero hasn’t been an everyday player with the Yankees, but the lefty swinger has made his presence felt when in the lineup.
He’s hitting .357 with a 1.257 OPS over four games.
On the mound, Cortes provided another solid start, his second of the season, throwing 5.1 innings of two-run ball. The runs were charged to Cortes when Anthony Santander welcomed reliever Albert Abreu to the game with a two-run double.
“I thought he was sharp, especially after the first inning,” Boone said of Cortes. “Like he was really strike one, strike two. Ahead, dictating counts. They’re a tough
lineup, and they’re a good team. They made him work enough to at least get him out of there. But I thought overall, he was pretty sharp.”
Cortes finished the game with four hits allowed, two walks, five strikeouts, 91 pitches and one equipment adjustment after umpire Bill Miller took issue with the southpaw’s 44 brand glove early in the game.
The otherwise black mitt — which Cortes used without issue against the Phillies in his first start — featured a white logo, which prompted a conversation with Miller. When Cortes returned to the mound the next inning, the logo appeared to be filled in with a black marker.
“I mean, I wasn’t bothered by it,” Cortes said, assuming that the white color caused the problem. “I’ve been pitching with a white 44 forever. So the fact that he came over to me and said that it was a problem kind of p---ed me off, but other than that, I didn’t have a big problem with it. It wasn’t a big issue.”
Ron Marinaccio and Jimmy Cordero followed Abreu. The former recorded two outs without allowing a run, but Adley Rutschman tanked a solo homer off Cordero in the eighth.
Cordero, whose lack of command helped the Orioles win on Friday, now has a 4.91 ERA over five appearances this season.
Clay Holmes took over in the ninth and picked up his third save of the year.